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ERIC RANDOM Words Made Flesh

CD album | gg212

Eric Random is a multi-instrumentalist from Manchester. He formed The Tiller Boys with Pete Shelley in the late 70s, released a solo album in 1980 and then fronted the group The Bedlamites. At that time, a lot of world music influences appeared in Eric's music. The group was also Nico's band during her last years, and Random the bandleader. Ties were formed with the Sheffield music scene, and soon Cabaret Voltaire worked with Eric, producing the seminal album Time-Splice. In the 1990s Eric reformed another side project of his, The Free Agents. A whole album was recorded, but only two tracks ever saw the light of day. After a longer hiatus Eric returned to the scene with his solo album Man Dog in 2014 and started playing live again. Klanggalerie are now proud to present the all-new album Words Made Flesh. It is dancier than Man Dog, and the world music traces have disappeared. On one song, Random has teamed up with Stephen Mallinder of Cabaret Voltaire and more recently Wrangler. Watch out for Eric live in 2016. Tracklist: 1. In Blood 2. Phobic 3. Arc Light 4. Conspiracy Complete 5 .In Flesh 6. Let It Go 7. Radio Silence 8. Go Figure 9. Acetylene Dream 10. Sweet Suffering 11. Anyone You Know 12. Between Light And Shadow. Price: € 17,-/copy incl worldwide shipping.

Eric Random‘s role in alternative music is sometimes lost in the liner notes: here he is playing tablas on Cabaret Voltaire’s Micro-Phonies; there he is adding adding texture on the Cabs’ 2×45. He pops up as a percussionist on Psychic TV’s “Love, War, Riot,” producing and playing on the feted Some Bizarre compilation, and standing next to Nico on her tour of Eastern Europe. (...) Words Made Flesh provides a dozen slices of exceptional dance material. The real reason Avicii retired might be that he decided he couldn’t do anything as groovy as “Phobic,” and William Orbit would probably find affinity with “Arc Light.”
The year isn’t half over, but Words Made Flesh is a serious contender for the album of the year. The acid bites of “Let It Go” are a reminder of the power of the accent in an 8-step sequence, while there is real magic in the more sinister “Go Figure” – the latter a collaboration with Stephen Mallinder. There are Eastern influences in “Conspiracy Complete” that represent a complete update of the experimental sound that came from the Cabs camp back in the 80s. (Cold War Night Life, May 2016)

Random had been a fixture on the so-called post-punk scene before steering his experimental ship into disctinctly more electronic waters. Words Made Flesh bears a resemblance to 90s era Cabaret Voltaire which becomes less surprising after learning that Cabs-now-Wrangler luminary Stephen Mallinder breathes all over one of the highlights on this Klangallerie release, Go Figure. Typically urbane and insistent, this track and the preceding Radio Silence signify something of a centrepiece - electronic beats delivered with minimal deviation yet possessing muscularity and beauty in its grooves with Koyaanisqatsi-style forboding. Those currently warming to Wrangler, Vessels, John Foxx and the Maths or Pantha du Prince might do well to invest in Words Made Flesh.(Flipside Reviews, May 2016)

Pole position for 2016 didn’t go to an obvious choice with a hipster following on Facebook. Eric Random has come and gone from the music scene over the years, but is most closely associated with Cabaret Voltaire and its Doublevision label. Random’s return in 2016 with Words Made Flesh kept some of the indie-industrial vibe from his earlier recordings, but was notable for repositioning dance music as something with character and texture. With influences drawn from world music, Random breathed new life into electronica, as this stand-out track demonstrates. (Words Made Flesh being no 1 in their 2016 charts).(Cold War Night Life, December 2016)